All Weekly Messages

There are those who suggest that politics should be left out of faith. This is neither possible nor desirable. Politics is always about how people organize themselves in community—the word politics literally derived from “polis”—or city. This organizing has inherent ethical and moral dimension. We who are baptized members of the Church and followers of Jesus Christ are committed to a particular set of beliefs and way of living that also have inherent ethical and moral implications.

Monday is a holiday, but what holiday? For many, it will be observed as Columbus Day. By others, Monday will be observed as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. There appears to be a cultural clash. What do we make of this?

How deep is your knowledge of the Son of God? How mature are you in your faith? How close are you to the measure of the full stature of Christ? I wonder how we as a diocesan community are doing at these things. These are questions about Christian formation, spiritual growth, and maturity in Christ.

There are so many humanitarian challenges around the world: the immigration crisis in this country; the brutality of the war in Ukraine, war in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan (yes, the war continues there).[6] It is tempting to succumb to “compassion fatigue.” As people of faith, we are challenged to resist this.

Hispanic Heritage Month affords us all an opportunity to explore the blessing God is unfolding in our midst and to truly witness the dynamic, ongoing work of the Holy Spirit stirring things up, making all things new.

There are a great many things being said and written about Queen Elizabeth II. I am most attracted to the stories of her faithfulness . . .

Labor Day is upon us. It’s the unofficial end of summer. There will be last flings for many “down the shore.” Many will be purchasing school clothes and supplies this weekend, or cars, or other consumer items, talking advantage of the ubiquitous sales across the nation and the internet.

A-M-P stands for Annual Giving, Major Gifts and Planned Giving. Healthy congregations should be actively engaged in all three of these areas of financial stewardship. Faithful financial stewardship is a vital area of Christian discipleship. As summer draws to a close, it is an appropriate time to consider Annual Giving.

Frederick Buechner the man has died, but his words, insights, faithfulness and sage counsel live on through his books. Stop, look, and listen.

To my mind, the greatest witness of the bishops attending Lambeth was that they were, by and large, not horrible to one another. This was not a given. There were real differences going into the conference, particularly over matters of human sexuality. Those differences were not resolved by the Lambeth Conference and remain profound.